Bike Building

dogllabtoof

Hello all,

Im fairl new to cycling, and bought a cheap claud butler road bike to get me started. I am enjoying it so far and have inevitably started looking at better bikes.

However, rather than buy a complete bike, i fancy building one myself. I know that this is not the cheapest way of doing it, but i think it would be a good project for me.

The question i have is do i need to be careful what frame i buy with regard to getting other components to fit? or are the frames/component pretty universal?

I have seen a Giant ocr 3 frame that i like the price of, would i have any problems with needing specific components for this frame?

I have only done a small amount of tinkering to date, do you think this is a good idea?

Any advice on good frames/components or books etc that might help me would be greatly appreciated.

P.S anyone heard of brand X frames? there is a alu/carbon frame for £200 chain reaction web site. SHoul i look at it or steer well clear?

Thanks

redddraggon

I hadn't done much before and I've just built a bike.

I didn't get cheap stuff, so I couldn't really risk anything going wrong.

It's easy once you get into it.

Bronzie

Road bike components are fairly interchangeable I'd say, certainly more so than with MTBs where there are different components to suit the various types of frame suspension etc.

Most of the component parts in a bike-build will require just allen keys or screwdrivers, but you will need some specialist tools (bottom bracket spanners, chainwhip, chainbreak, cassette lockring tool etc) to do things properly. These can be expensive to buy, but of course, once you have them you can do most servicing jobs yourself so saving in the long run.

There are some jobs in a bike-build that can be tricky to do right first time - fitting a headset and cutting fork steerer can be a bit tricky and may be best left to an LBS unless you feel confident.

Various books etc available although loads of good info available on Tinternet - http://www.parktool.com or http://www.sheldonbrown.com come to mind.

graham_g

I'd concur with these guys, I've just put my first geared bike together after knocking up a couple of single speeds/fixed wheel bikes and it was much easier than I'd really considered. As a result, gear adjustment is no longer a mystery to me either! I got the LBS to install the headset and cut the steerer though - perhaps this won't be necessary in future if I get a workbench and vice set up appropriately.

geoff_ss

I came to cycling as an adult after years playing with motorcycles which involved lots of rebuilds as I liked vintage stuff. Pedal cycles are child's play by comparison. However I had (have) a fairly well-equipped workshop and I've always collected tools so the opportunity to buy more has never put me off. Of course bikes were much simpler then with no indexed gearing but it's still not too difficult. A friend once commented that the only difference between a professional and an amateur is time - not entirely true but worth considering.

If you're reasonably handy and have the tools to hand or are happy to buy/borrow them then it's not too difficult to build a bike. Over the years I've assembled solos, tandems and tricycles and managed to ride lots of miles on all of them. If I can do it, anyone can.

Because I want a road bike with flat handlebars and lowish gears and no-one makes one I'm in the process of putting a bike together myself based on a Kinesis Tk08 frame which should arrive by the weekend. I can hardly wait

Geoff